The Cutting Room Floor
by sheraiah
Summary: Outtakes, deleted scenes, and perhaps the Gag reel from 'Out of Space and Time'. Little scenes that I just couldn't resist writing but that did not work with the flow of the original story.
1. Chapter 1

Fic: The Cutting Room Floor: Outtakes and Deleted Scenes ch1

Author: sheraiah

Rating: T

Disclaimer: If I owned anything besides the plot, I wouldn't be slaving away in retail.

Summary: Outtakes, deleted scenes and possibly the Gag reel from 'Out of Space and Time'.

Ooo

"Aaaargh! Damned, effing..." Darcy stomped through the common area on her way to the kitchen.

"What's wrong?"Bruce asked, lowering the periodical he was reading to peer over his glasses at her.

"I hate my hair," she huffed, grabbing an iced coffee out of the refrigerator. "The party is in less than an hour and I can't get my hair to stay up, let alone get all the damned flowers to stay in it."

"You are wearing flowers in your hair tonight?" Legolas asked. "I did not think that was...hmmm...a thing...here?"

"Not usually, but this is a Halloween party so everyone gets to get their geek on. I'm going as a fairy." She beamed and then frowned. "Maybe I should just be a sparkly vampire instead," she groused.

"Real vampires only sparkle right before they explode," Bruce deadpanned.

"Don't let Jane hear you say that," Darcy cautioned. "Girl's a complete Twi-tard. Personally, I'm more a Buffy-type myself." Bruce raised his fist and she fist-bumped him.

"Best episode: 'Once More With Feeling'," he said.

"Heard that." She grinned at him. "Best road trip music ever." He looked over his glasses again.

"I need a copy. I think the Other Guy stepped on mine."

"You got it, Big Green." She sighed. "I'm caffiened-up. Gonna go fight with my hair."

"What are you trying to do with it?" Legolas asked.

"Put it in a bun and pin the flowers in it, I guess. I kind of suck at anything but ponytails."

"You should braid it in a crown around your head and anchor the flowers to the braid," he commented.

"Easy for you to say, Mr. 'I'm an elf so my hair is perfect'," she snarked, gesturing to the braids Legolas typically wore to keep his hair out of his face. "I can't do fancy braids on my own hair."

"I might be persuaded to assist you," the elf commented, a tolerant half-smile gracing his lips. She blinked, stopping mid-stride to stare at him.

"Name your price."

"You have a cache of almond Snickers in your apartment."

"How the hell did you..? Oh, never mind! You play spy games with the Wonder Twins. Fine, you can have half."

"Done." He grinned. "Go dress in your costume and bring your supplies for your hair back here." She hurried off and Legolas hummed contentedly to himself. Bruce arched an eyebrow at him.

"You're good at that," he commented. Legolas merely smiled.

Ooo

The rest of the team and significant others arrived just as Legolas was placing the last of the flowers in Darcy's hair. The effect was very becoming. He had braided her hair into a crown around her head, using hairpins only to secure the very end of the braid, and then he wove the flowers into the braid, securing each with a single hairpin. When he finished, she shook her head. Everything held. Jumping up, she bounced over to a mirror.

"Oh, wow! Dude, you can have all my Snickers for this one!" She bounced back over, standing on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Elf-boy! You're the best!"

"Half was the agreed upon price and you are most welcome," he said, chuckling. He held up her wings, helping her into them when she nodded. "You look lovely, little one."

"Thanks to you," she replied. "See what Legolas did." She twirled in front of Jane.

"Very pretty," Jane said obligingly.

"I think you just lost about 50% of your 'Man Cred' there, Legolas," Tony said, smirking and twirling the braids hanging from his goatee.

"I am curious as to why you would think that an elf would have any interest in anything called 'Man Cred'," the elf shot back smoothly, returning the smirk in kind. "And that is a wonderful Jack Sparrow costume, Tony."

"Thank you," the billionaire said, bowing. The elf's gaze moved to Pepper and he grinned.

"Miss Swan, I presume?" Pepper laughed.

"I had a hard time deciding between this," she gestured at her replica of Elizabeth Swan's battle gear from the third installment of the franchise, "and the red dress from the first movie."

"This suits you," Legolas said, inclining his head to her. "The red dress would not have done you justice." He turned to Thor and Jane who were resplendent in a blue frock coat and white breeches and a stunning gold ball gown respectively. "I do not know what your costumes are, but you both look wonderful."

"Thanks," Jane said, flashing a bright smile. "We need to watch 'Beauty and the Beast' sometime soon. It's amazing." Legolas then turned to look at Clint and Natasha. The archer was sporting a tail coat, cloak, hat and a white mask covering half of his face. Natasha wore a white corset, petticoat and white dressing gown and had covered her red hair with a long, curly, dark wig. The elf grinned.

"The Phantom of the Opera and Christine Daae," he said, a hint of triumph in his voice.

"Very good, Elf-boy," Clint said, his smirk visible on the side of his face not covered by the mask.

Steve stepped into view then, clad in black with a black coat, black hat, and a red bandanna covering the lower half of his face. Upon seeing him, Bruce grinned ear to ear.

"The Shadow! Steve, you look great!" The super soldier tugged the bandanna down, his grin as wide as Banner's.

"Thanks! I wasn't sure anyone would know who I was."

"Steve, please. You're in the presence of some of the biggest geeks on the planet. No way we wouldn't recognize the character," Darcy said, laughing. "You look awesome, by the way. You're rocking the look."

"Thanks. So, um, are you," he said, shifting from one foot to the other.

"And on that note, we need to make like a baby and head out," Tony said, turning to Legolas. "Look, this is the one time we could probably sneak you in if you want to go. Costume party, good camouflage and all that."

"No, thank you. I have never been overly fond of parties. Besides, Bruce is not going either. I will keep him company." He glanced at Bruce. "Did you not mention that there was something you wished to watch?"

"Uh, yeah, there's a," he cleared his throat, "'Monsterquest' marathon on Discovery tonight."

"JARVIS, record that for me," Tony said. Pepper shook her head, a look of fond exasperation on her face.

Ooo

"Are you certain you do not mind missing the party?" Legolas asked, unwrapping an almond Snickers bar.

"Not at all," Bruce stated emphatically. "Parties make the Other Guy twitchy. Besides, fringe 'science' is entertaining."

"I do not understand this program. Why do they argue? Animals are very adept at hiding. Even elves might not encounter them if they truly wish to hide, particularly intelligent animals."

"Well, that's the question, isn't it? I don't have an opinion on this one way or another; it's not my type of science. Although, given what I've seen over the last few years, I certainly wouldn't rule anything out."

"Nor would I any longer," Legolas agreed, biting into his candy bar. "Oh, I am going to miss chocolate once I return home!"

fin

A/N: I couldn't resist this, but it didn't flow with the original story. I have a bunch of outtakes from 'Out of Space and Time' that I plan to post here.

I'm a costumer geek, as are my children. My ten year old son has costumed as The Phantom of the Opera, Indiana Jones, Frodo, Anakin Skywalker, Harry Potter, Peter Pan, the Wolfman, Dracula, the Mummy, Zombie Batman, and he will be costuming as the Shadow at a scifi convention this weekend. My fourteen year old daughter has costumed as Max from 'Where the Wild Things Are', Buffy, Leia Organa, the Corpse Bride, Moaning Myrtle, Christine Daae, Franklin the turtle, Princess Anankah, Jane from Twilight, Medusa, and Galadriel. My main costume is Gimli, son of Gloin, for the Dragon Con parade every year since 2006, but I have also costumed as Lexi Dio (a very obscure Star Wars character, I liked her costume), a Hobbit lady, a female dwarf, Eric Draven (when I was much thinner), and so many others that I can't remember them all. Either I or my ex-husband have made the majority of the above costumes, some of them completely by hand as in the case of our daughter's Max costume and her Franklin costume (my ex on both those). So, you see why I had to have some fun with costumes and our favorite heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Cutting Room Floor ch2

Author: sheraiah

Rating: T for language. Seriously, Tony REALLY has a potty mouth in this one.

Summary: Outtakes, deleted scenes, and the Gag reel from 'Out of Space and Time'.

Disclaimer: If I owned anything besides the plot, I wouldn't be slaving away in retail.

Ooo

Legolas shifted, unable to get comfortable. He had reached the stage of healing where everything hurt and it was impossible to rest. Not, he reflected, that he had done much else in the last several days. He huffed in irritation, partly at the situation and partly at himself. He had never handled boredom well. Had he been at home, or even in Minas Tirith, he would have escaped two days ago. Given his present circumstances, however, he deemed it prudent to behave himself and remain in the healing room he had been placed in, regardless of how easy it might be to escape. It would not do to be disrespectful to those who had aided him, before they even knew so much as his name, nor would it be wise to antagonize those with the power to confine him in truth.

He sighed, shifting again restlessly and wishing that Bruce would decide to visit. The Man was as kind as he was intelligent, answering Legolas' questions and keeping him company when he was not immersed in the work that Legolas had come to understand was all-consuming to not just Bruce but Tony as well. Particularly Tony.

He saw the more brash of the two geniuses only about half as often as he saw Bruce, and at odd hours. Apparently, Tony rarely slept and only at odd times when he did manage it. The door opened then and one of the healers entered. Not Mistress Allen, she was not on duty this day, but a taciturn man with dark hair and dusky skin. Legolas knew it was petty of him, but the Man looked far too much like the Haradrim for his peace of mind and he could not help flinching when the Man touched him. This just made the Man frown and grip him hard enough to leave marks. Most of the time the elf managed to stifle any outward expression of pain, but this time the Man grasped a part of his wrist that bore wounds made by the rope he had been bound with and Legolas gasped, flinching hard.

The Man snapped something at him, but the translator did not pick it up. The elf stared at him in confusion, cradling his throbbing wrist to his chest with his other hand.

"I do not understand your words," he said, hurt plain in his tone. The Man snapped again, this plainly an order. Legolas shook his head, gesturing to his translator. "The device is not on. Let me activate it so that I may understand your words."

The Man scowled, raising his voice this time and grabbing Legolas' wrist, squeezing painfully. The elf gasped, fighting his instinct to strike the Man. Suddenly, the grip was gone and the Man was slammed up against a wall, a furious Tony in his face and yelling. Legolas fumbled for the translator, touching the screen and activating it.

"..the HELL do you think you're doing, you fucking IDIOT? Who signed off on your medical licensing, the fucking Taliban? He doesn't speak English, you douche-nozzle! Did you even bother to check and see if his translator was turned on? You didn't, did you? Get the fuck out of here!" Tony shoved the healer toward the door, a look of disgust and contempt on his face.

"He's in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Stark. You're not calling the shots."

"JARVIS?" Tony spoke into his ever present device. "Send the security footage of this asshat abusing Legolas to Fury and Hill. Go ahead and send the part where I stopped him, too. Don't want him bending the truth to try to make himself look like the victim, do we?" He gave the medic a smug, shark-like grin. "I'm betting Fury won't be happy to see that footage, and he IS the one calling the shots. I'd be digging out my cold weather gear, if I were you. I'm thinking a tour of duty at the arctic circle might be in your future." His expression turned icy. "Now get the fuck out before I fucking throw you out." He glared at the medic as he slunk out the door. "JARVIS, is Bruce still in the lab? Good. Tell him what just happened. I want him to look Legolas over and make sure that fucktard didn't hurt him worse than he already was."

"Tony." Legolas' quiet voice made the billionaire turn to look at him. "My wrist is sore, but I think no more damaged than it was. Do not trouble Bruce, you have more than sufficiently resolved the issue." He gave Tony a half-smile. "Thank you." The Man shrugged.

"Let me see that wrist," he said, settling on the edge of the bed and holding out his hand. Legolas gave an unhappy little sigh but placed his wrist in Tony's grasp. Very gently, Tony unwrapped the gauze. "It's bleeding again. That asshat is not coming back in here."

"What happened?" Bruce burst through the door. "JARVIS said one of the medics hurt Legolas."

"His wrist is bleeding," Tony got up and Bruce slid into the spot he had been occupying. "That was as much as I saw. Asshat was twisting the hell out of his wrist."

"What else did he do?" Bruce asked, eyes scanning Legolas' face.

"He was merely short with me and heavy-handed. He gripped my wrist harder than was advisable and placed undue pressure on some of my wounds, that is all." The elf looked profoundly unhappy. "Truly, it caused me only a little discomfort."

"Even a little was too much," Bruce said flatly, his eyes flashing an odd green as he cleaned the wound and re-wrapped it. "Even if you had been a prisoner, that kind of treatment wouldn't have been right."

"No, it would not have. At least, not without orders." All three heads turned to see Maria Hill in the doorway. "Ramsey's having an interview with Director Fury even as we speak. He'll be lucky if he ever serves anywhere with indoor plumbing again after he finishes his arctic tour if the Director doesn't like what he hears."

"Good enough for me," Tony said, nodding in satisfaction. "Fury can smell bullshit ten miles off." Hill nodded briefly to Legolas and left as silently as she had arrived. Bruce drew a deep breath and exhaled, his shoulders relaxing visibly and the green fading from his eyes as if it had never been. Tony gave Bruce an odd look before shaking himself. "Bruce, buddy, I think it's time to call it a day." He walked over to the strange device on the wall, attaching a small disc to its side. "JARVIS," he said into his device, "cue up the version of 'Adventures of Robin Hood' with Sindarin subtitles in Tengwar that I had you compile for me last night, please." He glanced at Bruce and Legolas again, grinning. "Finish taking care of Legolas, Brucie. I'll be right back."

The elf and the scientist exchanged puzzled looks. Bruce shrugged, by now used to Tony's sudden changes of direction, and asked Legolas a few more questions, checking for damage where the elf reluctantly indicated the medic had manhandled him.

"What started all this?" Bruce asked.

"Truly, it is partially my fault." The elf looked even more unhappy and uncomfortable than he had previously. "He resembles the Haradrim. I was not successful in controlling my reaction to him touching me. That, I believe, is what triggered his treatment of me." He sighed heavily. "Bruce, his actions were wrong but so were mine."

"Listen to me," Bruce said with an intensity that caused Legolas to look up in shock. The scientist's eyes were slightly green again. "No one deserves what happened to you, not what happened before you left Arda and not what happened today. You're going to have residual effects from it. That's understandable. S.H.I.E.L.D. medics are trained to recognize things like that and to handle them without resulting to violence. That's why Tony got angry, and that's why I'm angry. You didn't do anything wrong." He drew another deep breath, letting it out slowly. The elf saw the green tint fade from his eyes again. "He's just damned lucky that you have such a high level of control. If he'd done that with someone like Clint or Tony, he'd be picking his teeth up off the floor. If he was stupid enough to try it with Steve, he'd be a stain on the wall." He gave Legolas a half smile. "Steve really doesn't like bullies. I imagine Tony's filled him in by now, just to make sure Fury follows through. He will, he doesn't like his orders not being carried out to the letter, but Tony doesn't trust him and never will."

Tony returned then, arms laden with snacks, which he distributed evenly between Legolas, Bruce and himself.

"A movie isn't a movie without snacks," he said, tearing open a bright blue package and biting into something that was both gooey and crunchy with apparent relish.

"Hey, why didn't I get any Rice Krispy treats?" Bruce protested. Tony grinned around his mouthful and threw another of the treats at Bruce, who caught it and tore it open. However, he broke it in two pieces, handing one to Legolas.

"Start the movie, J." The billionaire settled into a chair on Legolas' left side and Bruce settled into one on his right. "Next time I'm sneaking beer and pizza in." Bruce snorted, taking a sip of the sports drink Tony had brought for him before investigating his share of the snacks.

Legolas nibbled on the piece of the treat Bruce had handed him. It was sweet, sticky and crisp at the same time. He was not truly hungry, but he did not wish Tony to think that his efforts were unappreciated. Finishing that morsel, he examined the drink Tony had set before him.

"Here," Tony said, taking the container and lifting a small piece of metal on the top. The container hissed as the metal punctured the top. The Man handed it back to him and Legolas sniffed the contents. The scent was pleasant so he took a small sip. It bubbled on his tongue, startling him slightly, and then burned pleasantly all the way down his throat. The tangy flavor was pleasing, but not too sweet. "Good, right?" Tony asked. Legolas nodded, taking a deep drink. "There's more where that came from, and there's no caffiene in it so it's not on the naughty list."

"And it's not that diet garbage," Bruce added. He looked Legolas over critically for a moment. "You could stand to put on a little more weight than you're currently carrying. I'm guessing you lost a fair amount recently."

"Not so recently," the elf admitted. "I have been thinner than I perhaps should be since the War."

"We'll see what we can do about that," Tony said firmly. "Now pipe down, the movie's starting."

ooo

Four hours later, Ms. Allen walked into the elf's room, having been notified about the incident with Ramsey, to find another movie playing and Legolas curled up sound asleep in his bed, Bruce with his feet propped up on the side of the bed and his chin on his chest, just as deeply asleep as Legolas while Tony slumped in his chair, his head leaning against the back of the chair and also out for the count.

She shook her head, grinning, and fetched two blankets to drape over the Avengers before closing the door quietly behind her.

fin


End file.
